- The Life Before Her Eyes
Infobox Film
name = The Life Before Her Eyes
image_size =
caption = Theatrical release poster
director =Vadim Perelman
writer =Laura Kasischke "(novel)"Emil Stern "(screenplay)"
starring =Uma Thurman Evan Rachel Wood Eva Amurri
music =James Horner
cinematography =Paweł Edelman
editing =David Baxter
distributor =Magnolia Pictures
released = April 18, 2008
runtime =
country =United States
language = English
website =
amg_id =
imdb_id = 0815178"The Life Before Her Eyes" is an American 2008
drama /thriller film directed byVadim Perelman . The screenplay was adapted by Emil Stern from theLaura Kasischke novel of the same name. The film starsUma Thurman andEvan Rachel Wood . It was released on April 18, 2008 and revolves around a woman's survivor's guilt from a Columbine-like event that occurred fifteen years ago, which causes her present-day idyllic life to fall apart.Plot
Imaginative, impetuous and wild Diana (
Evan Rachel Wood ) can’t wait for her adult life to begin. Whiling away the final days of high school in the lush springtime, Diana tests her limits with sex and drugs as her more conservative friend Maureen (Eva Amurri ) watches with concern. Then the two teens are involved in a Columbine-like shooting incident at their school and are forced to make an impossible choice. Only one of them can live...15 years later Diana (
Uma Thurman ) is married and has a daughter. A memorial service at her high school brings back old memories and as past and present start to intertwine her husband and daughter become increasingly absent and Diana finds her life slipping away.The central theme of both the novel and the film is the loss of lives in these shooting incidents. Laura Mischance and Vladimir Perelman took an interesting approach to drive that point home that slowly leads up to a shocking realisation about Diana.
Cast
*
Uma Thurman as Diana
*Evan Rachel Wood as Young Diana
*Eva Amurri as Maureen
*Gabrielle Brennan as Emma
*Adam Chanler-Berat as Ryan Haswhip
*Brett Cullen as Paul McFee
*Jewel Donohue as mother
*Molly Price as Diana's mother
*Isabel Keating as Maureen's mother
*Nathalie Paulding as Young Amanda
*Mike Slater as Young Tom
*James Urbaniak as Professor McFeeCritical reception
"The Life Before Her Eyes" received generally negative reviews from critics. As of April 23, 2008, the review aggregator
Rotten Tomatoes reported that 29% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 35 reviews — with the consensus being the film is "a confusing, painfully overwrought melodrama." [cite web|url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/life_before_her_eyes/ |title=The Life Before Her Eyes Movie Reviews, Pictures - Rotten Tomatoes |accessdate=2008-04-23 |publisher=Rotten Tomatoes ]Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 32 out of 100, based on 15 reviews.Uma Thurman was rumored and in the top list in contenders for the Oscar battle as Best Actress.
[cite web|url=http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/lifebeforehereyes |title=Life Before Her Eyes, The (2008): Reviews |accessdate=2008-04-23 |publisher=
Metacritic ]Box office performance
The film opened in
limited release on April 18, 2008 in theUnited States and grossed $20,220 in 8 theaters its opening weekend, averaging $2,527 per theater. [cite web|url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=weekend&id=lifebeforehereyes.htm |title=The Life Before Her Eyes (2008) - Weekend Box Office Results |accessdate=2008-04-23 |publisher=Box Office Mojo ]References
External links
* [http://www.lifebeforehereyes.com/ Official site]
*imdb title|id=0815178|title=The Life Before Her Eyes
*rotten-tomatoes|id=life_before_her_eyes|title=The Life Before Her Eyes
*metacritic film|id=lifebeforehereyes|title=The Life Before Her Eyes
*mojo title|id=lifebeforehereyes|title=The Life Before Her Eyes
*amg movie|id=1:352387|title=The Life Before Her Eyes
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